The ultimate guide to the cost of living in Munich (2024)

Moving to Munich? Your living expenses are going to change. We've done the research! Bring your budget book and come find out what you'll be spending to live in this beautiful, expensive city.

Bas

6 minute read

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Updated on 5 Aug 2024

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Living

Munich is one of the most expensive cities in Germany. In fact, the cost of living in Munich is even higher than what you'd pay in a wealthy financial hub like Frankfurt. So if you plan to move here, better come prepared!

But no worries, we'll help you out here.

We’ll walk you through your most important expenses in Munich such as:

• housing,
• utilities,
• transportation,
• health insurance,
• and food.

Of course, there are some other monthly expenses you need to keep in mind like unlimited data for your phone or a gym subscription to stay in shape.

Let's start with what you came here for.

To make budgeting your new life in Munich easier, we made an overview of the approximate monthly expenses you can expect in Munich.

For students, Munich's living costs are around €1,424 monthly. Whereas, working professionals living in a studio should budget around €2,797. Keep in mind that if you're earning less than €5,175, your health insurance will be a lot cheaper as the contribution is 7.3% from your gross monthly income. Families should double or triple these expenses as they will need to consider additional costs like nannies and daycare.

So keep reading to understand the cost of living in Munich better and tailor it to your needs, wants and salary.

When they say that Munich is an expensive city, unfortunately, they aren’t kidding. However, these high costs are matched with just as high average salaries! Regardless of an accommodation type you choose, you can expect that housing will account for the largest chunk of your living expenses in Munich. Here's a brief overview of what you can expect to pay for renting in Munich:

Rooms

According to HousingAnywhere's rental index, a private room in Munich should cost you around €855 monthly.

As a student, Munich is not a very budget-friendly city. If you want to live there on a budget, you can either request financial support or decide to live a bit further away from the centre.

You can also try to book affordable private room in Munich early and for an extended period of time. If you're lucky you might score a room in one of Munich's famous Altbau homes and save yourself a pretty penny!

Studios

According to HousingAnywhere's rental index, a studio in Munich should cost you around €1,550 on average.

More privacy and your own facilities really are a blessing after a long day at your new Munich job. But, that privilege does eat away at your budget.

That said, housing quality in Munich is also relatively high, so it shouldn’t be hard to discover stylish studios for rent in Munich and with nice new facilities. A place that you can indeed call home, rather than just a place where you sleep after a day out in town.

Apartments

According to HousingAnywhere's rental index, a 1-bedroom apartment in Munich should cost you around €1,860 per month.

Apartments are where the pricing gets a little spicy. Depending on a neighbourhood, landlords could probably rent out a just-vacant apartment that same day by shouting out the window.

Munich's housing market is competitive and it shows in the pricing. But, if you have a salary to match, you can easily locate rental flats in Munich that will provide with comfort! You can even find furnished flats in Munich that make moving to this city hassle-free!

Munich has a pretty developed public transportation system. You can get around the city by S-Bahn (train), U-Bahn (subway), bus or tram.

The area of Munich is split in 7 different transport zones. So when you buy a ticket, you need to choose the zone where you are going to travel. But most likely, the M zone will be sufficient as it covers all of central Munich.

Depending on how often you travel, you can choose to buy a single ticket, day ticket or an IsarCard. IsarCard is usually a better value for money if you're a frequent traveller.

During the summer months you can get the Deutschlandticket which costs €29 monthly and is valid for all public transport in Germany.

Car owners will spend a bit more on transport as the price of gas in Munich being €1.84 per litre. This is around €450 a month to get around in a mid-sized car.

Here's an overview of the cost of transport in Munich:

Food is where things also get a little more expensive in Munich.

For example, going out for lunch in most German cities should cost you around €7-10, whereas in Munich you’ll quickly run that up to €15.

Groceries

Supermarkets in Munich are a bit more expensive than in other places. Similarly, beef, chicken breast and cheese can cost you anywhere from 10-20% more than in other parts of the country. All in all, a single person living in Munich should budget between €300 and €450 monthly for groceries.

Overview of food expenses in Munich

Let's start with the fact that you're obliged to have health insurance in Germany, regardless of your occupation. You're usually enroll

The cost of public health insurance for students under 25 is around €120.

People working in Germany are enrolled into public health insurance by their employer. You contribute 14.6% of your gross monthly income towards healthcare. Luckily, this amount is split between you and your employer so you pay only 7.3% of your monthly salary for health insurance. Here's a brief calculation to help you put the amount into numbers:

• 7.3% of €1,600: €116.8 a month. (€1,600 is close to the minimum wage after taxes.)
• 7.3% of €2,700: €197.1 a month
• 7.3% of €3,300: €231 a month
• 7.3% of €5,175: €378 a month. (This is the salary cap, so if you earn more than this, your contribution will stay the same.)

If you want to know more about how the system works, read our in-depth article on German health insurance.

Since most of us do part of our work from home, make video calls and stream Netflix, you might be in need of a fast internet connection. So let’s look at the cost for decent internet in Munich.

We’ll look at the cost for 100 Mbit (enough for a small household) and the availability of Fiber internet of at least 500 Mbit (enough for a family or multiple tenants all doing their thing).

If your landlord has an existing contract, you can also ask them to upgrade the existing connection with the existing provider, meaning you only pay a bit more a month than you do now.

Based on data from Check24.de internet in Munich would cost you:

Of course, we need to look at more than just the essentials. There are some monthly costs that we could technically survive without. But why would we? We're also in Munich to have a good time, right?

Cost of phone plans in Munich

For a phone plan with flat rate for calls and texts with 10 GB data, you’ll be paying between €20 and €40 per month.

Do you want unlimited data, then you’ll be spending between €50 and €80 per month. A small price to pay to stay in touch with your loved ones!

Gym subscriptions in Munich

Thankfully, Gyms are only as expensive as you want them to be.

You can get a subscription at McFit for as little as €20 a month. But if you want the full German fitness and Spa experience, then you could pay upwards of €80 a month to get your exercise on followed by supreme relaxation!

Besides, if you’re a student or employee, there’s a pretty big chance you can get a student or employer discount at some of the Munich Gyms.

So, now you have an idea what the essentials like housing, food and health insurance are going to cost you during your stay in Munich, happy budgeting!

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